Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible

I quite liked DHHT. I picks up motives from popular horror films and turns them into spoofs. So one has to bear in mind that it's a different concept from Allan Partridge and also a complete different kind of humour. It certainly beats Carry on Screaming. Anyway, the writers really have a very good knowledge of the classic English horror film and portray it very lovingly with a lot of detail. That clearly shows in the quality of the sets, the costumes etc. Although funny it's never disrespectful. The stories are absurd but they work quite well as opposed to being just a series of one liners. That's difficult to achieve with a genre parody. It's also quite comprehensive in taking on all aspects of the horror film. So if you're a Hammer fan you'll enjoy this. If you're looking for "typical" Coogan, forget it. BTW: Honor Blackmann still cuts a nice figure at well over 70.

When I first heard about Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible I remember being pretty excited. Not only was this the latest Steve Coogan vehicle but it also was basing itself around old British horror movies that I was very fond of. Unfortunately the idea was greater than the execution and the series didn't attract the predicted audience figures and was not recommissioned for a second season. It's a shame that the series wasn't better, as the potential in the idea is so obvious, while the cast used throughout is really very impressive. It also has pretty decent production values with some fine period detail in all the instalments. The biggest single issue is with the writing, as despite being a comedy it really isn't very funny too often and some of the story lines are handled in quite a clunky manner.

The three studios synonymous with British horror of the 60's and 70's are spoofed, namely Hammer, Amicus and Tigon. The entries focusing on the latter two are probably the best instalments in the whole series. 'And Now the Fearing' mimics the horror anthology series specialised by Amicus and unlike the others is set in more modern times in the early 1970's, so it really stands out from the other instalments on that basis alone. 'Scream Satan Scream' is the final episode and it parodies the 17th century-set Tigon horror films, most obviously Witchfinder General (1968). In it, Coogan plays probably his most well-conceived character - the sleazy Captain Tobias Slater, Witch Locator. The remaining episodes, however, aren't as good as these and overall are at best somewhat middling. Overall, I enjoyed the series up to a point, in that I like the concept of it and it is certainly good in places but its not essential stuff really and would probably have been more enjoyable if more care had been taken with the writing.

This show is so funny and well written.

The jokes are so obviously but the audiences don't actually expect them thus resulting in laughter once said, one that would stick with me is 'I kicked her head in...the fire'

This is one of Steve Coogans best bits.

Like many other TV shows however, it has its bad bits, but the hilarity of the show and the plots will let make you forget about that in no time soon!

At least give it a try, it's like one of those things which you need to watch, just to say you have seen a classic piece of comedy, especially because of Coogan in his prime!

Time has been neither kind nor cruel to this relatively obscure Steve Coogan series (only 15 imdb reviews to date). Watching in 2020, I still have the same likes and problems with it as I did when it went out.

Of the 6 episodes, two are bona fide tv classics. One, And Now The Fearing, is a perfect pastiche of early 70s Amicus portmanteau horrors - every single cliché gets thrown into the mix with fantastically cheesy results. The way it's all crammed into 30 minutes is also impressive.

The other, The Curse Of The Blood Of The Lizard Of Doom is a deliriously silly yet engaging sci-fi tinged 19th Century body horror. The slew of knowingly horrendous one-liners in this episode had me creasing, the attention to detail of the sets (and the bad-on-purpose special effects) were spot on, and even the newspaper headlines were genius. Everything about this episode is great, and I wish it had been a full length movie.

Then there's one decent episode, Voodoo Feet Of Death. The premise/set up here is original, and the script has some funny moments, but overall it felt a bit drawn out and convoluted. Worth watching though.

The remaining 3 episodes were a bit of a slog to get through and Coogan seemed to be stuck on autopilot in all of them. Frenzy Of Tongs was especially weak, almost the entire episode seemingly taking place in a big dark cupboard. The other two were historical period pieces and vaguely forgettable, although in fairness all 3 of these had at least one moment that made me laugh.

As a series overall, I'd say of Steve Coogan's non-Partridge tv work this ranks below Paul Calf's video diaries and Coogan's Run, but above Saxondale (overrated), The Trip (yawn) and Tony Ferrino.

Dr Terribles house of Horrible is a clever pastiche of tacky seventies horror movies. Each episode is introduced by the same character, the bald headed Dr Terrible, and the stories evolve from there. Steve Coogan plays the main character in each one.

Especially memorable is the Fu Manchu spoof and the spoof of the early seventies horror movies, such as Tales from the Crypt, where several characters would tell a tale of doom.

Coogan fans watched expecting Alan Partridge. To fans of horror this will be appreciated.